Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure compliance with the Transparency in Supply Chains requirement of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, in the light of the absence of a publicly-available list of companies that are in scope.

The legislation was designed to harness pressure from civil society and we are pleased that NGOs are using company statements to scrutinise businesses and hold them to account, including contacting businesses that have not yet published statements.

The Government is taking action to improve compliance but we know that new legislation takes time to embed. We recently wrote to over 10,000 businesses that may be required to publish statements reminding them of their obligations and pointing them towards relevant guidance. We have also strengthened the wording in our guidance to set out our expectations for these statements more clearly. The Home Secretary can apply for a court injunction requiring businesses to comply. If they still refuse, they will be liable to an unlimited fine for contempt of court.